Tag: Wanderlei Silva

It’s been awhile since Wanderlei Silva gave us a career update via a dimly-lit video recorded in a rape dungeon, and while many fans have all but completely forgotten about his existence in that time, the former PRIDE and UFC star has kept busy attempting to valiantly restore some credibility to his name. And today, it appears he may have actually made a little headway in that quest.

January 30th marked the 15-year anniversary of a seminal event in Mixed-Martial Arts history, an occasion largely unnoticed due to the hype surrounding a certain middleweight fight the following night.

The event? None other than the opening round to the 2000 PRIDE Grand Prix, of course.

Jon Jones tested positive for cocaine earlier this week! You know what that means, right? If you guessed an overhaul of drug testing procedures and increased transparency from the Nevada Athletic Commission and the UFC, you’d be wrong. No, what this significant development in MMA means is another Wanderlei Silva pro wrestling-style shoot promo.

He set his sights on the NAC, bashing them for ruining Jones’ reputation and for being the bumbling, corrupt idiots we all sort of know they are (transcript via MMA Fighting). Read it after the jump.

(We tried to give the Potato Awards a classier vibe this year. We failed.)

By the CagePotato Staff

Look, you already know how we feel about MMA awards ceremonies: They’re meaningless exercises tainted by personal bias and stupidity, in equal measures. The only thing that makes the Potato Awards different is that we’re completely honest about the fact that our awards are biased and stupid. But it’s the end of the year, and we have to acknowledge that somehow, right?

But years from now, we may look back at 2014 as an important turning point, thanks to some major developments that took place near the end of the year. Notably, the UFC’s Reebok uniform deal is poised to transform the sponsorship landscape, while the Le/Quarry/Fitch class-action lawsuit and the related suits thatcame out in its wake could drag out some long-hidden truths about the UFC’s finances. We don’t yet know if these developments will turn out to be good or bad overall, but MMA could be a lot more interesting in 2015.

As we enter a new year, let’s look back at the past 12 months that got us here — the highs, the lows, and the moments that were so “WTF?!” that they defy all judgment. Use the page links below to peruse our mostly-chronological list of 38 award categories, and thanks so much for sticking with CagePotato for another year.

While the sketchy stipulations surrounding his departure from the sport have been well documented, there’s no denying that he has made some thoughtful, not to mention passionate points about issues like fighter pay and treatment in the time since. You might say he’s a phoenix of sorts, rising from the possibly enhanced ashes of his former self to become the symbol of a movement that MMA is in dire need of.

Take his latest video, for instance, wherein he continues his crusade for better fighter pay by breaking down the much talked about Reebok deal. Although Wandy seems cautiously optimistic that the deal might very well be a sign that the UFC is finally starting to heed his cries, he also is aware how badly the deal will screw over up and coming fighters without any real name recognition. To help combat this, Silva has offered to sponsor said screwed-over fighters via his social media:

What can a young fighter offer to his sponsors, if not the space on their shorts? To help, I am giving space on all my social media, which reaches millions of people. Show your sponsors and I will post it to my friends. That way you can offer a lot more exposure to your sponsors and even get new ones. And I want to ask the other fighters, our icons in the sport. It’s the minimum we can do and for me it’s a pleasure to help the next generation. I know what a fighter goes through until he can make a name for himself.

“According to a source close to the promotion, who spoke to MMAjunkie on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, Bellator agreed to not utilize the former PRIDE champ and recently retired fighter when informed that he was still under contract with the UFC…

Late this past month, a UFC official told MMAjunkie that Silva remains under contract despite a rumored fight with Phil Baroni in Japan on New Year’s Eve. Typically, a fighter’s contract with the industry-leader is frozen, but not dissolved, in the event they retire.”

(There ain’t no party like a Wanderlei party ’cause a Wanderlei party COMES WITH JALAPENO POPPERS AND A FREE $5 POWER CARD. Photo via Vegas News.)

Scott Coker & Co. continue to snatch up disgruntled former Zuffa employees like hot cakes, Nation, as Bellator has just announced that former UFC/Pride star Wanderlei Silva will be making an appearance at the Bellator 131 kickoff party inside Dave & Buster’s this Friday to take pictures and sign autographs.

The announcement comes a month after the #2 promotion in MMA managed to scoop up Royce Gracie as a “brand ambassador” in what could only be considered a triumphant middle finger to the UFC. From a Bellator press release sent out earlier today:

Silva Joins Royce Gracie, Randy Couture and Frank Shamrock In Preparation for #Bellator131 on Saturday, November 15 Newport Beach, Calif. (November 10, 2014) – The festivities surrounding Saturday’s #Bellator131 continue to grow as Bellator will host a pre-party kickoff event from San Diego’s Dave & Buster’s on Friday, November 14. After weigh-ins, fans are invited to take pictures and have autographs signed with MMA legends Royce Gracie, Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, and now MMA icon Wanderlei Silva beginning at 6pm PST. Silva will join the other MMA legends in attendance for #Bellator 131 on Saturday, November 15.

Silva begins by explaining that fighters’ love of the sport can blind them to people taking advantage of them, but when promotions — and he’s really only talking about the UFC, here — are worth billions and fighters need to beg for money, something is very wrong. “What would happen if the events shared, in a more dignifying manner, their profits with the athletes?” Silva asks. “The athletes are already out there giving their blood, imagine if they got paid better.”

While the video doesn’t reach “screaming in a basement with heavy metal blasting” levels of intensity, Silva does get rather fired up talking about the responsibility of promoters to take care of their fighters. He seems especially pissed about fighters having to travel in economy class with only one trainer’s flight being covered, and the UFC’s time-honored practice of burying its own fighters. But, “things will change once they start to feel it in the only place that matters to them. Which is not in their heart because they don’t have one. It’s in their pockets.” SHOTS FIRED.

Props to TheMontageKing — who previously created those amazing referee blooper reels — for unleashing another video compilation of the gnarliest MMA fouls in history. Featuring: Jon Jones poking everybody in the eye, Wanderlei Silva giving and receiving nut-shots, Michael Bisping being a dick as usual, Mike Kyle fighting really dirty, Bob Schrijber’s execution-style axe-kick to the back of Daijiro Matsui’s head, and Bobby Green‘s history of violence against groin-protectors. Check out the first “Worst Fouls in MMA” highlight reel right here, and follow us after the jump for some unrelated madness from TheMontageKing…

(Roman Salazar is a cable guy, but in his spare time he’s a main card fighter for the most powerful MMA promotion in the world. Isn’t the sport supposed to have evolved past this point by now? / Photo via Getty)

I know this is as close to a mortal sin as you can get in the eyes of UFC president Dana White, but hey, he seems okay with putting his fighter’s business in the street, so I figure the door is open to talk about the subject.

White recently saw one of his most popular fighters, Wanderlei Silva, release a video that put the UFC on blast for the way it treats fighters and compensates them. During the video, Silva said, “They (UFC) always hold on to the money so they underpay the athletes.” He also added, “If you’re not going to give the fighters money the minimum you can give him is respect. They use us to make rivers of money, because this event is making money. They don’t give anything to the athletes, only crumbs. They don’t respect us as athletes, they don’t respect us at all. They try to turn the public against us.”

Shortly after the Silva video surfaced, White did exactly what Silva accused him of, attempting to turn public perception against the fighter by portraying him as a spoiled millionaire that had no business complaining about the money he made during his employ with the UFC. The UFC president told Globo, “You know how much money Wanderlei Silva has made since he’s been with the UFC? $9.7 million So Silva says everybody’s getting rich except the fighters. What does Wanderlei considers rich? $9.7 million isn’t rich? A lot of people would consider that rich. Let me [tell] you what: Wanderlei Silva has fought six times in the last five years. He’s fought six times in five years. If being overworked is fighting one time a year, I don’t know what to tell you.”

I’m not going to lie, $9.7 million is a lot of money relative to what most MMA fighters earn, and Silva will still take home a healthy chunk of change after paying taxes, management and gym fees, food and (ahem) supplements from that $9.7 million. However, coming from the guy that travels around the world in a private jet and brags about taking casinos for $5,000,000 on a given night, White’s argument over riches is almost comical, especially when those riches are quite literally gained off the blood and sweat of fighters like Silva.

The other thing that I find bothersome about White’s claim that Silva pulled in $9.7 million is that there is zero proof that the number is real. The UFC, a privately owned company, is not required to provide full compensation numbers for its fighters, and it famously does not release those numbers. The only proof we have that Silva earned $9.7 million is the word of a man whose job description is fight promoter, an occupation that has always had a rather loose relationship with the truth.